I did the flowers for church on Sunday–sunflowers make such a statement, don’t you think? I have a soft spot in my heart for them because years ago at my highfalutin’ Episcopal Church, the wife of the new rector put sunflowers on the altar and the frozen chosen ladies of the church were outraged. So when they are in season and available at Trader Joe’s, I always use them.
The OM and I went to the early service (and stayed for Sunday School) so we could finish early and get packed before going to the bud’s soccer game later in the afternoon.
This was accomplished and we brought daughter #1 home with us so that we could all get up at 3:00 am to Uber to the airport. Yikes.
While we are gone on our western adventure, daughter #2 will be filling in with literary thoughts and tales of the prairie girls…
…and updates of our travels. So be sure to stop by the blog this week.
And please don’t forget to keep us in your prayers.
And here’s a reminder from Tim Challies (and Hank Williams) not to let the dust gather on your Bible.
How was your weekend? Mine was pretty quiet compared to recent ones. No visitors, no parties. Just the usual.
It was so hot at the bud’s soccer game that Pappy left his fleece in the car! It was even hotter for the players and coaches.
Before the game daughter #1 and I went to an estate sale and we got a few odds and ends, such as this classic book from 1922…
Donald Ogden Stewart, you will recall, was an American humorist, actor, playwright, and screenwriter, who won a 1940 Oscar for his screenplay adaption of The Philadelphia Story.
I also worked on a new puzzle…It was a fun one!
Life in the fast lane.
We went to church with the twins and they once again checked their depravity at the door. I am very proud of them. I had to sign them into Sunday School using the new system which you do on an iPad which then prints out a name tag and a receipt which you use when you pick them up. It was pretty complicated for this old lady, but I managed somehow. Quite a reflection on our modern world, but okay, I get it. The subject of our adult Sunday School was church discipline, which in light of this was especially interesting. Anne had this to say about that.
The trouble is—well, there are so many troubles, but one of them is—that the only way for Christians to live peaceably together in the Kingdom of God is if they really understand down in the depths of their hearts that they are really so bad, that their inclinations are so ugly that unless God does something, they have no hope. And this is a hard saying, for none of us really believe that we are that bad. Our sins are “struggles.” They are just us being “broken.” They are the result of our childhoods. They are because other people are selfish and didn’t consider us more highly than themselves. They are because we didn’t have the same opportunities as other people. There are a thousand reasons why those stray vile thoughts about other people are not my fault. But the seedbed of peace is, as James says, humility, and humility is the result of looking into your own soul and seeing that you have thoughts and desires in there that would destroy the whole world.
Read the whole thing.
Here’s another good article from Carl Trueman: “Ours is a childish age…That is not to say that the matters at stake in both church and world are not deeply serious. But the idioms for addressing them have become infantile, and the church must resist the temptation to follow the world in this. To seek relevance therefore requires not capitulation to, or emulation of, the infantile, but rather a recapturing of what it means to be an adult.”
Busy, busy weekend! I am now a person who takes naps to survive exciting times.
I went to daughter #1’s first DAR chapter meeting as regent on Saturday morning. She handled it like a pro as I knew she would. (I have transferred to her chapter.)
Of course, I didn’t take a picture of the meeting after it started…c’est la vie. We had breakfast and then the meeting, followed by the program, which she presented: DAR 101. I learned a lot.
I was interested to learn that one early member of our chapter was Dr. Mary Walker, who served as a surgeon during the Civil War. Assigned to the Army of the Cumberland and later the 52nd Ohio Infantry, she was the first female surgeon in the US Army. She was captured by Confederate forces after crossing enemy lines to treat wounded civilians and arrested as a spy. She was then sent as a prisoner of war to Richmond, VA until released in a prisoner exchange. She is the only female to receive the Medal of Honor.
Pretty awesome. She tried to join the DAR in NYC, but they wouldn’t let her in because she wore pants. Yay, Cornelia Greene Chapter for being more open-minded.
Daughter #2 and DN arrived with the prairie girls around dinner time and we had toasted ravioli and daughter #1 opened some presents.
It was a full day.
On Sunday we got up bright and early and went to the early service at church and to Sunday School, then headed home and on to our favorite Wild Sun Winery to continue celebrating daughter #1’s birthday in our favorite style. We were joined by several of her friends (ages 3-96) as well as the boy and his family. A good time was had by all and the rain held off til it was time to go home.
Today we celebrate the birthday of our firstborn, lovely daughter #1!
We will toast her today and through the weekend! What a blessing our adult children are to us!
Happy birthday, precious cupcake of love!
I will say that nothing makes a person realize how life speeds by more than one’s own children reaching their own age milestones. In this vein, I enjoyed this reminder that life is too brief to waste. “[A] heart of wisdom recognizes that while each day of mortal life is very brief, it is profoundly significant because its minutes and hours are priceless. Each brief day of mortal life counts, not just for an earthly life well-lived, but for eternity.”
And for all of us who stress about the current state of the world, let us take heart and read Psalm 2:
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
We had absolutely perfect weather this weekend–cool, sunny, breezy, no humidity. We did all the things. DN went to his wedding and we had serious Compton Lady time…
We went to the Missouri Botanical Garden where I had not been for literally years. The Koi are almost gone! The geese have taken over! Otherwise, it looked great.
We watched the bud play soccer…
I made it to church and to a great Sunday School class on Being Presbyterian.
Doubtless, were we to regard things as they appear, the kingdom of Christ would seem often to be on the verge of ruin. But the promise, that Christ shall never be thrust from his seat, takes away from us every fear.
As the school year commences, we find ourselves getting busier and busier. My Bible Study has started up again. The wee bud has soccer practice and games will be starting soon. Lottie is back in her after-school dance class in Kirkwood, so that means that the boy brings the wee bud over to play while they wait to pick her up. It is a fun time for all, as I get to talk to the boy and the bud gets to do what he wants without having to share anything with his sister, including Mamu’s bowl of candy corn.
Later today daughter #2 is coming to town for a few days, while DN flies out of St. Louis to attend a wedding. I’m looking forward to seeing the prairie girls…
Maybe I can get Katie to wash some windows…
And, hey, football season has commenced so that means Matt Mitchell is back with his SEC Roll Call…
I might even watch an occasional Mizzou game to stay in the loop.
This is a good reminder that God is working amid the mundane moments of life. “While faithful plodding gets no fanfare, our labors in Christ will not be in vain. We honor Christ as we go about the millions of little moments in our lives: holding a baby, cooking a meal, leading our home, providing through work.”
And this is the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time. He’s got the moves.
Look at that blue sky! Our little trip to Laumeier Sculpture Park on Labor Day morning was a success.
Mr. Smith got pretty worn out by the end, and had to be carried part of the way, but we all had fun.
I hadn’t been there in a couple of years. The twins had never been there at all and were introduced to the concept of “Sculpture”.
I don’t think they were that impressed, but enjoyed doing something different and seeing all the other dogs. Likewise Mr. Smith.
We went home and ate bagels and apples and then we watched the end of Ghostbusters, which we had started a few weeks ago. Then we played outside and then they played inside with Legos and then their dad picked them up. I collapsed.
It was a pleasant long weekend. Scottie Scheffler won the FedEx Cup! (He’s had quite a year–It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.)
And I watched a couple of good movies, notably The Undefeated (1969) with John Wayne and Rock Hudson and The Best of Times(1986) with Robin Williams and Kurt Russell.
I felt better after watching both of these movies, which is not something you feel a lot these days, you know what I mean?
Now I am getting ready for the arrival of daughter #2 and her famille on Thursday. Can’t wait to see these little firecrackers…
They’ve sure got the moves.
So, welcome, September! Stay positive! Pet a nice dog, take a walk in the sunshine, watch an old movie.
Happy Labor Day! Hope you are having a good day. The twins are coming over again and we will find something fun to do, hopefully with daughter #1 and Mr. Smith.
We picked the twins up for church on Sunday while their parents were still distracted getting ready to move to daughter#3’s parents’ condo over the weekend. They checked their depravity and drew pictures in notebooks I had brought for that purpose. The bud drew many variations on this theme:
And Lottie drew her ‘stories’:
We sang this hymn which always makes me cry…
After church we went to the Sunny Street Cafe for brunch. The twins had dinosaur pancakes and were quite content. The boy picked them up shortly after we came home and they were annoyed that they hadn’t had time to play, but the OM sighed with relief.
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus For my life is wholly bound to His Oh, how strange and divine, I can sing: All is mine! Yet not I, but through Christ in me
This week was a scorcher, but par for the flyover course. The forecast for the long weekend is optimistic so we’ll see.
Daughter #2 and her family escaped to Michigan, but they encountered a huge storm halfway through their vacay which knocked out the electricity to 400,000 people and their running water!
C’est la vie. Before the weather catastrophe, my brother and sister-in-law drove over for a short visit…
…and caught up with the comings and goings of Pete the Cat et al.
Yes, the month is winding down. I will toast Jorge Luis Borges again and suggest you read this short story about a man whose father tells him he had “Lunch with Borges” once. It reminded me of my father telling me he sat on Gertrude Stein’s lap as an infant. We know our parents so little really.
As in dreams behind high doors there is nothing, not even emptiness. As in dreams behind the face that looks at us there is no one. Obverse without a reverse, one-sided coin, the side of things. That pittance is the boon tossed to us by hastening time. We are our memory, we are that chimerical museum of shifting shapes, that pile of broken mirrors.
This is an interesting reflection on Peer Gynt, showing how a troll becomes a troll. “In 2024, we live in a world of trolls. What is the name for cowardly people who leave hateful comments on the internet? Trolls. Our family’s word for road-ragers? Road trolls. Peer Gynt is a story for today.”
And here’s a heads up that the Church of England remembers John Bunyan with a Lesser Festival on 30 August. I was glad to see that a memorial window to Bunyan was unveiled in the west aisle of the north transept of Westminster Abbey in January 1912. It was erected by public subscription and designed by J. Ninian Comper and shows eight main scenes from the first part of Bunyan’s most famous work The Pilgrim’s Progress. The inscription reads: In memory of John Bunyan. The Pilgrim’s Progress. B.1628. D.1688.
“You are not yet out of reach of the gunshot of the Devil. You have not yet resisted unto death in your striving against sin. Let the Kingdom be always before you, and believe with certainty and consistency the things that are yet unseen. Let nothing that is on this side of eternal life get inside you. Above all, take care of your own hearts, and resist the lusts that tempt you, for your hearts `are deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.’ Set your faces like a flint; you have all the power of Heaven and earth on your side.”
How was your weekend? Friday I went to lunch with some old friends at my former flyover university faculty club. Then we went back to their house where I boxed up some books to take home. They are getting ready to downsize and that means getting rid of a ton of books. But God only knows where I am going to put more books! Daughter #1 came over to their house and filled a box for herself. I would have taken more, but as I told my friends, I already have a lot of their books.
The rest of the weekend I spent looking at/reading my new-old books. What a pleasure! I also took some old computer monitors over to a nearby recycling event and enjoyed a great sense of accomplishment which I relished all weekend. And daughter #1 and I continued our scientific study of the correct wine-bread ratio…
On Sunday the OM and I picked up the twins to take them to church with us since their parents are very busy getting ready to move. It had been awhile since the twins had been to church so they needed to re-learn some church behavior basics. They did pretty well. The bud drew some interesting pictures…note the devil prominently portrayed in hell…
After church we went home with the twins and the OM picked up lunch at McDonald’s. Then we took a little walk where the bud was able to pet a nice black Lab named Titan, who sniffed his face. Then we played more or less quietly at home while the OM took a nap. Lottie beat me repeatedly at Chutes and Ladders, but the bud told me that winners are losers and losers are winners, so there. And the first shall be last, right?
The boy picked them up mid-afternoon and stayed to chat for awhile, always a treat for me.
I changed my clothes for a third time and we headed back to church at 4:30 for the ordination service of our youth minister. Once again I was overcome with thankfulness that I am a member of this church.
Meanwhile daughter #2 and her family drove up to Lake Huron to spend the week, leaving at five in the morning for the long drive.
I remember those days–leaving before dawn to get a jump on the driving while the kids sleep! (Note both babes are wide awake.)
dual personalities 